As a leading supplier in the wire and rod industry, Mid American Steel and Wire knows that water used in the cooling process of steel manufacturing becomes contaminated and must be recycled or disposed of. Although Mid American has always recycled a substantial portion of process water to minimize the impact on the environment, water must be purged from their recycle tank on a daily basis to maintain proper chemistry in the facility's process water loop. Historically, wastewater has been hauled away for disposal at a significant cost.
Now Desalitech, a provider of high-efficiency water production and treatment solutions, is supplying an advanced wastewater recovery system to Mid American. The Desalitech system will recycle up to 60,000 gal per day of wastewater for reuse in the rod mill at the Madill, OK facility. This system will reduce both the disposal costs and environmental impact of the operations at the mill. The integrated treatment solution will include pretreatment steps for removing contaminants and debris followed by reverse osmosis purification, and is capable of achieving high recovery from a challenging wastewater situation created by steel manufacturing.
The Desalitech system will treat the wastewater inside of the facility with the highest possible efficiency to maximize the yield of valuable recycled water, ensure its purity, reduce plant discharges and associated costs, and minimize environmental impact. Additionally, the recycled water will now have a constant quality that will aid in maintaining consistency within the operation of the rod mill. Improved yield is expected as excess scale can be avoided with a more consistent water quality.
Saving Money - and the Environment
Desalitech's Closed Circuit Desalination (CCD) solutions reliably extract purified water from challenging and varying sources at high recovery rates with minimal energy consumption. Ideal for industrial water and effluent treatment, agricultural water supply and inland brackish desalination, CCD reverse osmosis (RO) systems produce as little as 1/3 the amount of waste as conventional RO systems in installations around the globe. The Mid American system will operate at up to 93% recovery, concentrating the plant's purge stream by a factor of 14 and dramatically decreasing the volume of wastewater produced by the facility.
"Hauling wastewater for disposal by truck is a major cost center, and Mid American sought a solution that would reduce those costs through higher recovery. The Desalitech system's return on investment will pay for itself within two months while improving the quality of water in the plant's recycle loop," said Mark Littrell, manager of the Mid American Steel plant. "The value proposition is compelling, not only because of reduced costs but also because less waste reduces environmental impact."
In addition to high recovery, Desalitech water and wastewater treatment systems offer inherently low energy consumption. In contrast, a conventional RO system would consume considerably more energy, would have less flexibility, and be more likely to be limited in recovery due to scaling. Desalitech systems are also more reliable, resisting membrane fouling and scaling, and reducing the effort and costs associated with operation and maintenance.
"Wastewater disposal is a sunk cost for industry and manufacturing, and our CCD solutions enable higher water use efficiency to reduce the costs associated with treating industrial wastewater while providing high-quality purified water for beneficial reuse," said Nadav Efraty, Desalitech CEO. "CCD solutions are ideal for any industrial or municipal process that creates a wastewater stream, and we are excited that our products will reflect positively on Mid American's bottom line."